Arm lift bracket and shaft for flush valve mechanisms



Oct. 21, 1958 c. KUNK LE 2,856,610

- ARM LIFT BRACKET AND SHAFT FOR FLUSH VALVE. MECHANISMS Filed Nov. 8, 1957 j IN VEN TOR.

I Y 4 HARLEEB KUNKLE.

ATTQRNEVS United S tates Patent ARM LIFT BRACKET AND SHAFT FOR FLUSH VALVE MECHANISMS Charles Kunkle, San Antonio, Tex.

Application November 8, 1957, Serial No. 695,317 1 Claim. or. 4-67) This invention relates generallyto flushing mechanisms of the type provided in the flush tanks of toilets. More particularly, the invention has reference to a novel, improved construction of an arm lift bracket and of the shaft elevated thereby and connected to the conventional ball valve.

Conventional flushing mechanisms have a notable de ficiency, in respect to the tendency thereof to hang when in elevated position. As a result, the ball valve failsto seat, resulting in continuous flushing of the toilet. The result is that there is a serious and large scale wastage of water, as well as considerable inconvenience and andirectly connected the short rod, and by virtue of these hooks the short rod is often caught or bound therein. Where such mechanisms include a hook carrying a chain, with the short rod dependingly attached to the chains, the chain is often caught, and hence, the short rod is unable to plumb properly, resulting hung.

Due to the difficulties which have been described above, producing faulty seating ofthe flush ball, considerable efforts have been expended to provide improved flush control attachments. There are a number of such attachments commercially available, but these are distinguished by their relatively high cost. Even so, their tendency toward faulty operation is definitely pronounced and it thus follows that they have not met the problem and solved it.

In view of the above, the main or broad'object of the present invention is 'to provide an improved bracket and shaft for flushing mechanisms of the character described, which will beso designed as to insure positively against hanging or other defective operation of the shaft and of the associated components of the flushing mechanism.

Another object is to. insure that the wholly eflicient, sure operation of the device will continue without any maintenance or repair for many years. 7

A further object is to provide the improved components at a very low cost, sufficient to bring the same within the reach of the ordinary homeowner, with said cost being so low as to be covered in a very short time by pronounced savings in water bills.

A further object is to permit the swift and easy installation of the device in flushing mechanisms already in use, without requirement of special skills or of special tools, thereby to permit the installation to be carried out by the home owner himself.

A further object is to permit the invention to be used with wholly conventional flushing mechanism components already in use, whereby to require no modification or redesign of the lift arm, shaft guides, etc.

Still another object is to so design the construction as to permit the same to be incorporated in new flush tank in the rod being bound and ice 2 construction at a cost which, compared to that required in thermanufacture of flush mechanisms now in use, will be only slightly higher, with the difference being fully offset by the pronounced benefits to be gained from use of the invention.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claim appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bracket and shaft construction according to the present invention, as it appears when in use;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view substantially on line 2-2 of Figure 1; and t Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the device portions being broken away, the lift arm being illustrated fragmentarily.

Referring to the drawing in detail, designated generally at 10 is a wholly conventional flush tank, only a fragmentary portion of which is shown. The flush tank includes the usual outlet fitting 12 having at one end the low, upstanding neck 14 in which is engaged the lower end of a vertically upwardly extending overflow tube 16. At 18 there is designated a conventional flush ball or valve, which normally engages against the usual valve seat provided at the larger end of the fitting 12.

All this is conventional construction and does not per se constitute part of the present invention.

The arm lift bracket and shaft constituting the present invention has been generally designated at 19, and included in the invention is an elongated, straight, vertically disposed shaft 20 formed from stout, comparatively rigid rod material, the lower end of said shaft being threaded for engagement in the usual internally threaded annulus 21 of the flush ball 18. i At its upper end, the shaft 20 is integrally formed with a circular, closed loop 22. Loop 22 is of substantial diameter. At this point, it should be noted that no dimensions will be specified for the several parts described herein. It is mainly important to note the relative 'proportions of the parts, and the dimensions might be varied in different commercial embodiments. It is thus not desired that protection for the invention be limited except as necessarily required by the scope of the appended claims, since limitations on the scope of the invention might be imported into the same if specific dimensions were set out and subsequently regarded as critical.

In any event, the loop 22 and the elongated, straight body portion of the shaft are all disposed in a common vertical plane.

Designated at 24, is a sleeve integrally or otherwise rigidly formed with a radial guide support arm 26 the outer end of which has a longitudinal slot 28 separating from one another vertically aligned guides 30 integrally formed upon the arm 26. Sleeve 24, arm 26 and guides 30 are a conventional part of the flushing mechanism and do not per se constitute part of the present invention.

Forming part of the present invention is an annular bracket 32 formed from a wide piece of heavy sheet metal material. Bracket 32 is of inverted L-shape in cross section, and has a horizontal upper leg 32 projecting across the path of vertical movement of the shaft 20 and formed with a large diameter opening 34. The diameter of opening 34 as shown in Figure 2 is slightly less than the outer diameter of loop 22. The diameter of opening 34, however, is very much greater than the diameter of the body portion of the shaft 20.

In any event, bracket 32 has a vertical leg 36 depending from the inner end of the leg 32 and elongated in a horizontal direction. Leg 36 has a row of openings 38 formed therein.

Designated at 40 is the conventional lift arm or operat- 3. ing lever of the flushing mechanism, and this also does not constitute part of the present invention, per se. Lever 40 has the usual row of openings 42 at its distal end, and a selected opening 38 is registered witha selected opening 42, torecei-ve a connecting'bolt 4-4 having a nut 46, whereby'to fixedly secure the brackettothe lift arm. As will be understood, thebracket could be rocked about *the axis of the connecting bolt, before the nut 46 is tightened, and it will therefore be considered that the invention encompasses tiltable adjustment of the bracket about an axis extending perpendicularly of the length of the lift arm as and disposed parallel to and belowthe plane of the leg 32. The axis about which the bracket tilts will normally be disposed substantially radially of the body portion of the vertical shaft 20 as will readily be seen from Figure 2.

-In any event, the use of three openings 38 in the bracket, taken in combination with a plurality of openings 42 of the lift arm, serves to provide a wide range of ad justments of the bracket, longitudinally of the arm 40, and this permits wholly .accurate placement of the bracket in respect to the shaft 20. Further, in each position to which the bracket is adjusted longitudinally of the lift arm 40, the bracket is tiltably adjustable about the axis of the connecting bolt or screw 44.

It will be readily seen that a highly simplified construct-ion is included in the invention, with the shaft 20 and the bracket being quickly and easily substituted for analogous components already in use. One need merely remove the old shaft from the flush ball 18, after which the new shaft 20 is extended through the opening 34 and then through'the guides 30. The bracket 32 is then swiftly adjusted through the desired position, with opening 34 being aligned vertically with guides 30 so that the shaft will be centered in the opening 34. Then the connecting bolt is applied to secure the bracket to the lift arm. Further adjustments, including titlable adjustments, can be made as necessary. With the ball valve seated and the lift arm in its normal, rest position, the upper leg, of the bracket 32 will be substantially horizontal. The bolt may now be tightened and the shaft connected to the ball 18.

In use of the invention, on upward movement of the arm 40., there will be immediate upward pressure exerted against the lower portion of the loop or ring 22, so that shaft 20 is immediately elevated, to unseat the flush ball. However, it is important to note that when the arm 40 swings upwardly, it cannot under any circumstances exert a lateral pressure against the shaft in a manner such that the shaft would cock or hang in its elevated position. Rather, the shaft is permitted a straight vertical movement both upwardly and downwardly, without any interference whatever from the lift arm or from the connection between the shaft and the lift arm. The bracket 32 swings in an arcuate path with the arm 40, of course, but the opening 34 at all times will merely be disposed in positions such that diametrically opposite por tions of the edge thereof will bear lightly and slidably against angularly spaced portions of loop 22 located in the lower half of said loop. .In other words, during the arcuate travel of the bracket, said bracket may have a slight movement transversely of the loop 22, but the bracket is merely in light, sliding contact with the loop so that it does not tend to bias the same transversely out of the vertical path in which the loop is to travel with the shaft 20. Further, when the shaft has been elevated and the arm 40 is swung back toits lower position, there will not be any interference with the subsequent down ward movement of the shaft at the time the flush ball is to seat once agin. The shaft, in fact, in these circumstances will be wholly out of'contact with any component of the lift arm or equivalent swinging operating mechanism of the flushing assembly, as will be readily seen from Figure 1.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appendedclaim.

What is claimed is:

The combination, with a lift arm of a flush tank mechanism, said arm having at least one aperture, a flush ball, and a guide means, of a vertically extending flush ball support shaft and lift arm bracket, said bracket being formed from a single length of sheet material and being of an inverted L-shape including a pair of wide legs each of which is wholly flat, said legs lying in perpendicularly related planes, one leg being in face-to-face contact with the arm and having a row of apertures extending longitudinally of said arm, the centers of said apertures being aligned on aTline parallel to the plane of the-other leg, said aperture being registrable with a selected aperture of said one leg, said other leg having a large diameter opening, the shaft being of a diameter substantially smaller than that of said opening, said shaft being loosely engaged in said opening and including a straight, vertical portion integral at its upper end with a loop overlying said other leg and formed to a greater diameter than the opening so as to engage diametrically opposite portions of the edge of the opening on upward movement of the arm and bracket, the diameter of said-opening being selected of a value in relation to the shafts diameter and loop diameter such that throughout the range of movement of the shaft between its lower and upper extreme positions, the loop will engage the edge of the opening, at locations angularly spaced about the loop circumference from the straight portion of the shaft, with said straight portion wholly out of engagement with said edge .of the opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,627,608 Edwarde Feb. 10, .1953 

